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Word of Mouth Marketing: The Completely FREE Way to Find Hidden Deals

Nasar Elarabi
3 min read
Word of Mouth Marketing: The Completely FREE Way to Find Hidden Deals

I recently dropped $3k on postcard mailers, and out of that I got two potential deals. One of those sellers fell off the face of the earth after begging me to buy the house. Now, I know you are thinking: If they were begging you, how did they fall off the face of the earth? Well, what happened was they were out of state and the son had to show me the house. We were scheduling appointments a week out based on when the son was off of work. And of course on the day of my scheduled appointment, he would have to come in. Then I would have to wait until the next week. This is how it went, so on and so forth, until suddenly the super motivated owner stopped calling my phone.

Related: 4 Compelling Reasons to Always Follow Up With Sellers

I had another potential deal come out of that mailing. The house was similar to the little house on a prairie, except it look like it had been abandoned for 150 years and refused to join the 21st century. I had to go down a dirt road and through the woods, and eventually I came across this house that was not even listed on the city map. The seller is super motivated, but they will not be ready to move out until August 1st. And of course they need the money from the house sale to move out. In cases like this, I wait until they get a little closer to move out date to ensure the house will be vacant.

Word of Mouth Marketing

After spending $1,500 on marketing and not getting any deals, I was stuck like chuck. I had to get out more marketing and follow up with old leads. Now, there is one form of marketing I been doing for a while called word of mouth. I’ve been telling everyone about what I do since about 2011. So I logged onto one of my social media accounts, and BOOM — someone contacted me with a house they were trying to wholesale but had no buyer. I said, “Let me make a phone call.” I had a buyer look at the house that day, but they said it was too much work for them. I told the seller that I thought I could get the deal done, but let me shoot this out out my list. They said that was fine and within 24 hours, we had a buyer at full price. We made $6k that we had to split 3 ways due to the wholesaler having a partner.

Related: Wholesalers: Here’s a Simple, Free Way to Strengthen Your Brand’s Presence

I got this deal because I made sure all of my friends in real life and social media knew I was buying houses. I don’t run a commercial every time I see them or everyday on social media. We all know those annoying people who put a flyer on their news feed of the latest business venture every 5 minutes. I simply let them know that I buy and sell houses. And even my YouTube channel followers know me as a wholesaler, so I also get deals from that. In some cases people think you are a realtor. So if I am not the best option for someone’s house, I simply direct them to a realtor or guide them on what they should do. I am experienced so I don’t force deals because I know for fact it’s a waste of time.

Building Up Your Reputation

Now, this word of mouth marketing does not happen overnight, just like anything else. People would like to see you doing it first. So, for example, if you say you buy houses, people want to ensure you are not just jumping on the latest business trend. If they see you talking about it for 2-3 years straight, they will start to see how serious you are, and you will notice that you’ll get business referred to you. Also, this month I had to write a check because someone who knows me wanted me to buy their house. This house makes out to be a great flip that I should conservatively make $60k on.

In conclusion always remember: the tortoise beats the hare. Build a business that can sustain the test of time. Don’t go out into the world and oversell yourself. Just let people know what you do — and then actually do it. After a few years of planting seeds, you will notice that deals will start to fall in your lap out of nowhere. You just have to keep the faith and keep grinding.

Do you use word of mouth marketing to spread your brand’s reputation?

Let us know with a comment!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.